WASHINGTON — As phone makers strive to make smarter and more capable products, users devote more time and energy consuming, sharing, and creating content, and less time engaged with people.
The inventors of a new credit card-sized phone have an unusual goal — they want it to be used as little as possible.
It does two things — makes and receives phone calls, and tells time.
On its website, The Light Phone, is referred to as “your phone away from phone,” enabling users to “disconnect without leaving you completely stranded.”
Inventors Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang aren’t suggesting people throw away their smartphones and flock to “less smart” feature phones, but they want to offer some relief from the constant dings, vibrations, and buzzes that can go along with notifications from social media.
In fact, The Light Phone pairs with a smartphone, can fit in a wallet, and strips away the distractions available to a person carrying a full-function phone.
“For certain moments — like taking your kid to the park, having dinner with your wife — those moments we don’t really need notifications from Twitter or Facebook or anything else,” Tang told Fast Company.
The unlocked Light Phone has its own number, but by pairing with a smartphone through an app, it can store up to 10 numbers on speed dial and receive forwarded calls.
Its makers say the phone’s battery lasts up to 20 days.
In a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, the $100 phone comes with 500 prepaid minutes.
